Election fraud driven by immigrants practising "village
politics" of the Indian sub-continent could be a crucial factor in
deciding the future control of Birmingham City Council, a major report
warns today.

Family loyalties, the dominance of men and the existence of the
"biraderi" clan system among British Asians provides perfect
conditions for widespread rigging of postal votes and other electoral
malpractice in Britain's major cities, according to the Joseph
Rowntree Reform Trust. In a 94-page report called Purity of Elections in
the UK - Causes for Concern, the trust argues that the UK's
election system is close to breaking point and at risk of fraud, as the
countdown to May's local elections gets underway.

The study says the turning point in recognising Britain has a
problem with election fraud came in 2005 when a court found six
Birmingham Labour Party members in Aston and Bordesley Green, all Asian
men, guilty of tampering with thousands of postal ballots.

The incident, which Elections Commissioner Richard Mawrey QC said
would "disgrace a banana republic", forced the Government to
tighten regulations surrounding postal voting, but the reforms were
nowhere near tough enough according to the authors of today's
report.

They say: "The Birmingham election court of 2005 demonstrates
that the control of a major city council or the outcome of a
parliamentary contest could be influenced by the scale of fraud that was
rendered possible by postal voting."

The study says numerous convictions for electoral fraud since 2000,
when postal votes first became freely available on demand, resulted from
incidents in inner-city wards where a large concentration of voters
originate from the Indian sub-continent.

It adds: "Significantly, these convictions have emerged
alongside anecdotal evidence of more widespread, and long-run, practices
associated with Pakistani, Kashmiri and Bangladeshi traditions of
biraderi (brotherhood) clans influencing voting behaviour.

"It is widely suggested that extended family and kinship
networks, frequently with their origins in settlement patterns in
Pakistan and Bangladesh, are mobilised to secure the support of up to
several hundred electors, effectively constituting a block vote."

Evidence of family pressure to behave in a certain way emerged at
the recent Aston election petition hearing when potential witnesses said
they were afraid to come to court. Several had to be ordered to attend
by a judge.

All of the main political parties have sought at times to gain
advantage by allying themselves to a Muslim candidate claiming to be
able to guarantee a minimum number of votes arising from their support
within a wider clan, the study adds. The document quotes Birmingham city
councillor Salma Yaqoob, who has warned that Muslim women are in danger
of being disenfranchised.

Coun Yaqoob (Respect Sparkbrook) said: "It is for the reasons
that biraderi networks can exert undue influence that we have been
campaigning vigorously in Birmingham against postal votes. Postal votes
are filled out in the privacy of one's home. But it is not private
when family members, candidates or supporters, can influence subtly or
otherwise the way you complete your vote."

Calling for all voting to take place in polling stations, Coun
Yaqoob added: "A secret ballot means loyalties to family and
friends can be maintained in public, but political arguments can still
win out in the privacy of the voting booth".

The report concludes that Government attempts to raise turnout at
elections by allowing everyone to have a postal vote has "without
doubt dented public confidence in the electoral system".

Many councils are said to have incomplete and inaccurate electoral
registers and the integrity of UK elections "falls well short of
international standards".

There is also criticism of political parties for attempting to
"buy" elections by pouring money into campaigns in marginal
seats.

The Midlands Industrial Council, a group of Tory-supporting
businessmen and women, gave pounds 376,000 to 26 constituencies before
the 2005 General Election campaign. The money enabled the Conservatives
to register higher than average swings in the chosen seats, the report
claims.

The Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust is demanding reforms to the
electoral system based on regulations in Northern Ireland, where every
voter must produce photographic ID at polling stations and must produce
proof of identity when applying for a postal vote.

"It is widely suggested that extended family and kinship
networks . . . are mobilised to secure the support of up to several
hundred electors, effectively constituting a block vote

Rowntree survey

paul.dale@birminghampost.net

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